Mickey Rourke Talks About What Went Wrong With “Iron Man 2”

Don't expect Rourke to be in another Marvel flick any time soon.

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Complex Original

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When Iron Man was released in 2008, it was hailed as one of the most sophisticated and visually striking superhero movies to ever grace the big screen. So when Iron Man 2 came out in 2010, fans were basically foaming at the mouth in anticipation of Ol’ Shellhead’s second adventure. Unfortunately, a flat script and an overcrowded supporting cast made Iron Man 2 look rusty in comparison to the brilliant original.

One of the problems with the movie was the underdeveloped character of Ivan Vanko, aka Whiplash, played by Mickey Rourke. Even though he was the film’s main baddie, Vanko never rose above clichés as his personality was completely one-dimensional and boring. Apparently even Rourke thought his role was lame, and in a recent interview he did with Crave Online, the actor discussed Marvel’s interference with the production.

“You know, I explained to Justin Theroux, to the writer, and to [Jon] Favreau that I wanted to bring some other layers and colors, not just make this Russian a complete murderous revenging bad guy. And they allowed me to do that,” he continued. “Unfortunately, the [people] at Marvel just wanted a one-dimensional bad guy, so most of the performance ended up the floor.”

Rourke then went into detail on how much preparation and creativity he felt he wasted on the role, “If they want to make mindless comic book movies, then I don’t want to be a part of that. I don’t want to have to care so much and work so hard, and then fight them for intelligent reasoning, and just because they’re calling the shots they… You know, I didn’t work for three months on the accent and all the adjustments and go to Russia just so I could end up on the floor.”

It’s interesting to see Rourke come out and say this, especially after other actors and directors like Edward Norton, Terrence Howard, Jon Favreau, and Kenneth Branagh were all either fired or refused to work for Marvel again after doing a movie or two at the company. It seems like The House of Ideas doesn't have the best reputation around Hollywood at the moment.

[via Crave Online

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